No. 3 Women’s Crew Aims for Eighth National Title at NCAA Championships this Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The hunt for an eighth national championship continues on Friday when the No. 3 Brown women's crew opens up three days of competition at the NCAA Division I Women's Rowing National Championships at Eagle Creek Park. The Bears officially begin with varsity eight heats on Friday at 9:40 a.m.

After earning the Team Trophy for most team points and finishing second in the varsity eight at the Ivy League Women's Rowing Championships, Brown received an at-large bid for its 18th consecutive trip to the national championships. The Bears are seeded first in both the second varsity eight and varsity four, while the varsity eight was tagged with the fourth seed.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow the NCAA Division I Women's Rowing National Championships on social media:

The Bears fell from the top spot in the US Rowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Collegiate Rowing Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells to number three in the nation after the Ivy League Women's Rowing Championships. Brown assumed the top spot on April 16 after a standout performance at the Lake Natoma Invitational, claiming the country's highest ranking for the first time since 2007.

Defending national champion Ohio State snagged the top spot after winning the Big Ten championship and Stanford moved to number two following a Pac-12 title.

The Bears have won seven national championships (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011) under the guidance of Head Coach John Murphy and Associate Head Coach Phoebe Murphy, the most of any team since the championship's inception in 1997.

Brown last claimed the national title in 2011 for its seventh title in 15 years. The Bears edged Stanford by the narrowest of margins to earn the championship, finishing the varsity eight in 6:28.62 to the Cardinal's 6:28.67.

Last season, the Bears finished seventh at the NCAA Championship, highlighted by a third-place finish by the second varsity eight in the Grand Final.

LAST TIME OUT

Victories in the second varsity eight and both varsity four finals lifted Brown women's crew to the Team Trophy at the 2014 Ivy League Women's Rowing Championships on the Cooper River on May 18. The Bears earned silver with a second place finish in the varsity eight race, narrowly missing the Ivy League title, but secured 81 points for first in the team standings.

Princeton prevailed in the varsity eight, setting an Ivy League Championships record (6:15.412) and collecting its second straight Ivy League Championship for an automatic bid to the NCAA Rowing Championships. As the second place team in the varsity eight, Brown also posted a time that snapped the previous Ivy League Championships record. The following Bears were named Second Team All-Ivy: (from the bow) sophomore Logan Harris (Stinson Beach, Calif.), sophomore Sasha Tilles (Redmond, Va.), junior Rachel Gottlieb (Bow, N.H.), sophomore Ellie Place (Bellevue, Wash.), freshman Monika Sobieszek (Stoneham, Mass.), sophomore Muriel Solberg (Rockford, Ill.), freshman Alia Shafi (Lafayette, Calif.), senior Louise Breen (North Hampton, N.H.) and junior coxswain Molly Sandza (Washington, D.C.).